On August 20th, 1992 Mary Fisher addressed the Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas in what is now one of the most famous speeches given in recent American history. Fisher, the daughter of a wealthy Republican, spoke on the importance being aware of the increasing danger of HIV/AIDS. Speaking from experience, Fisher is able talk about the danger of ignorance from the disease. She deploys metaphors and allusions pertaining to the Holocaust, as well as hypothetical experiences, to address a complacent, if not oppositional, Republican crowd. Fisher attempts to convince her political listeners of the very real danger that comes with ignoring HIV/AIDS. Fisher deploys a combination of the three appeals of logos, ethos and pathos to strengthen her speech as a persuasive argument. She expands upon her discussion by using metaphor throughout as an effective …show more content…
She confirms her authority on the topic by revealing, very early on, that she has contracted the disease herself. She states, “Though I am female and contracted this disease in marriage, and enjoy the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the cold wind of his family's rejection.” She purposefully conveys to her conservative audience that she is not gay, is married, a mother and contracted her disease in marriage, not with a random partner. Here she is playing up her personal experience to support her argument. Fisher’s inclusions of these social facts are added to acquire the sympathy of her traditional audience. Likening herself to the hypothetical “lonely gay man” draws sympathy from the assembly for a hypothetical character in her rhetoric. These inclusions of speculative illusions strengthen the rhetorical appeal of her argument. Fisher specifically includes certain information to develop an understanding from a conservative audience that may need
“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” This mantra from Margaret Mead is a somewhat humorous yet slightly satirical spin on how people tend to think of themselves as one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable human specimens. However, one English teacher from Wellesley High School takes this critique one step further with his polemic presentation at the school commencement. David McCullough, a Massachusetts English teacher, gave a seemingly somber sendoff to his graduates in 2012, with a speech that contained some unapologetically harsh sentiments. However, by looking past the outwardly dismal surface of the speech, the students can infer a more optimistic message. By incorporating devices of asyndeton, paradox, antimetabole, and anadiplosis, McCullough conveys to each student that even though none of them is unique, their commonality is not a fault they all have merit and should strive to view the world through a more selfless lens.
Stoddard begins his argument successfully with pathos, or emotional appeal, to attain the reader’s empathy for those who have been deprived of a loved one. The story tells of a woman named Karen Thompson, who was basically married, but not legally, to her female partner; when Thompson’s partner was in a critical car accident, her partner’s parents completely cut Thompson off from all contact with their daughter. Had the two women been married, they would not have had to deal with such heart-throbbing pain. This example is effective on presenting how marriage “can be the key to survival, emotional and financial” (Stoddard, 1988, p. 551). Making the readers attentive to their feelings captures their attention to the issue of gay marriage and supports his first minor claim.
Mary Fisher's speech on HIV and Aids was executed extremely well in almost every way possible. Out of all the aspects of Mary's speech, I felt her establishment of common ground is what made her speech so great. Pearson, Nelson, Titsworth, and Hosek (2016) says “common ground occurs when you and your audience share an understanding of the world”(p.246). Mary did a great job of sharing her understanding and views of HIV and Aids, which is helping to establish common ground with the audience. Also, Mary disclosed things about her personal life that made her establishment of common ground even greater with the audience. All in all, Mary’s use of common ground did great things for her during this speech about HIV
In the passage the author addresses who Ellen Terry is. Not just an actress, but a writer, and a painter. Ellen Terry was remembered as Ellen Terry, not for her roles in plays, pieces of writing, or paintings. Throughout the essay the author portrays Ellen Terry in all aspects of her life as an extraordinary person by using rhetorical techniques such as tone, rhetorical question, and comparison.
Samir Boussarhane During the early 20th century in the U.S, most children of the lower and middle class were workers. These children worked long, dangerous shifts that even an adult would find tiresome. On July 22, 1905, at a convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia, Florence Kelley gave a famous speech regarding the extraneous child labor of the time. Kelley’s argument was to add laws to help the workers or abolish the practice completely.
Florence Kelley was a social and political reformer that fought for woman’s suffrage and child labor laws. Her speech to the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association initiated a call to action for the reform of child labor laws. She explains how young children worked long and exhausting hours during the night and how despicable these work conditions were. Kelley’s use of ethos, logos, pathos, and repetition helps her establish her argument for the reform of the child labor laws.
In the era of American slavery, the rights of the colored were denied under authoritative rules, such as the Fugitive Slave Act that required the retrieval of all runaway slaves. It was during this time, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, an African American living in Canada, felt the need to combat racial injustice by voicing her opinions on the newspaper Provincial Freeman. In her second issue of the newspaper, she argued the need to continue her editorials is to promote the antislavery cause by embedding repetition to unify her targeted audience and by approaching her audience with a cautious tone to build on more support.
On January 12, 1780, Abigail Adams, former First Lady, wrote to her son, John Quincy Adams, while he was abroad with his father and brother. Adams addressed to her son and future President to maintain his spirit to learn and grow. She expressed his purpose through her motherly tone, various religious and historical allusions, use of logos, rhetorical question with simple syntax and use of metaphors.
On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural speech. Abraham Lincoln begins by addressing the nation on the ongoing civil war and his hopes on the nation uniting as a country again. Lincoln tells them “ The progress of our arms upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it its, “ Lincoln is saying that he is equal to the public and that he has also felt the wars effect. I think the main reason why this speech was written was to start reconstruction. Since the Civil War just ended, now is the time to start reconstruction. Later on, Lincoln starts talking about the North and South. It says,“ Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nations survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish.” It means that the North and South weren’t planning on war but because of wanting to save their nation, they sacrificed themselves and started a war. Lincoln then states, “ To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. He is saying that the war happened not because of the issue of owning slavery but because of the expansion of slavery.
Steven Epstein is a sociologist whose expertise lies in health care inequalities and research on human subjects. Published in 1995, Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and the Politics of Knowledge is a study of the politicized production of knowledge in the AIDS epidemic in the United States. This work shows Epstein’s interest in how expertise is constructed, the ways in which those who are considered “outsiders” can influence medicine, and how credibility is gained and lost. Epstein focuses on the question of how knowledge is produced through complex interactions among government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, scientists, medical people, and “treatment activists” to discover how knowledge about AIDS emerges out of what he calls "credibility struggles."
“Death is the only pure, beautiful conclusion of a great passion” (David Herbert Lawrence). Coretta Scott King was an inspiring person to women of all ages and races. However her death had an impact on everyone, she was seen as an idol, more importantly as a leader. Malcom X’s daughter Attallah Shabazz who is also Mrs. King’s most pride supporter addresses her remarks in her eulogy and engages the people at the funeral service for Mrs. King on the sorrowful day of February 7th, 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. With hundreds of people, (mainly women) watching on TV or listening in the stands during this depressing time reflect and honor on the achievements and positive attitude she had on the community for others. Attallah Shabazz hoped that this event
Florence Kelley appeals to the masses that the conscription of unregulated child labor is abhorring through the use of ethos, juxtaposition, and pathos. Kelley’s speech tackles on one of her main goals in life, regulations on child labor. Her speech moved the masses to fight for the rights of children, and she won. Kelley is responsible for the safe working conditions and the child labor laws that the United States has in implementation today.
Kayal, Philip. 1993. Bearing Witness. Gay Men's Health Crisis and the Politics of AIDS. Westview Press. San Francisco.
Margaret Sanger, a well known feminist and women's reproductive right activist in USA history wrote the famous speech: The Children's Era. This speech focuses on the topic of women's reproductive freedom. Sanger uses rhetorical forms of communication to persuade and modify the perspectives of the audience through the use of analogy and pathos. She uses reason, thought and emotion to lead her speech.
Poor, young children being forced to work nearly 24 hours day is a terrible evil that is no longer necessary in the 21st century, thanks to those willing to fight against it. One of those people was lover of freedom Florence Kelley. At the National American Woman Association on July 22, 1905, she gave a speech urging the women to ally with “workingmen”, ln 89, to vote against unfair child labor laws. In her speech, Kelley uses appeals to empathy, sympathy, logic, ethos, repetition, word choice, tone, and current events to defend her case.